


Life After and On

by ShadowMoon2430



Series: Beetlejuice the Musical [1]
Category: Beetlejuice - All Media Types, Beetlejuice - Perfect/Brown & King
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:26:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23487544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowMoon2430/pseuds/ShadowMoon2430
Summary: Larissa Deetz is back with her family after hearing about all the crazy things she missed at college. Ready to pick up her life in the new home, she has no idea that those stories she heard so much about were about to become her new normal. Four humans, two ghosts, and one demon in a house was sure to cause trouble. Eventual Beetlejuice/OC
Relationships: Beetlejuice (Beetlejuice)/Original Character(s), Beetlejuice (Beetlejuice)/Original Female Character(s), Beetlejuice/Originial Female Character(s)
Series: Beetlejuice the Musical [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1689814
Comments: 1
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

Time seemed to be moving in the strangest of paces in Connecticut for the Deetzs. At least, that is what it felt like to the brunette who was staring out the kitchen window as she ignored the cup in her hand. Life had been so normal a week ago before Larissa had packed up and moved. She always found herself debating if she was truly ok with this decision. She was still in the middle of her college career. At twenty years old, she was certain college was supposed to be the best years of her life, but instead, that past year seemed like some version of hell.

A sigh left her mouth as she thought over all the changes that had happened, whether they were out of her control or her own choices. A new house, with a new family dynamic. A new normal. She was just late to the party. It was hard to wrap her head around everything. She could still remember the phone calls early on in the move. Lydia had called her, desperate for some help after learning that Dad had planned on staying out here permanently. Of course, there wasn't much she could do while still stuck in her college town in New York.

That was the main reason why she got rid of her apartment, get set up for online courses next semester, and moved back in with the family. She had been seriously worried about her sister and whatever had possessed her to come up with such a crazy story. It had started off with just an annoying life coach, which she could admit herself after talking to Delia, she could be a lot of take in. But then came the permanent move, followed by Dad's engagement to Delia. Larissa could understand how Lydia was upset. Hell, she was having her own troubles with processing everything after losing Mom and then being stuck hours away from the rest of the family, but she didn't make up outlandish stories for attention.

Well, that's what she originally thought. After all, her words had to be made up stories. A haunted house with friendly ghosts, a psychotic demon, and a trip to the afterlife. It was more than she could believe. Yet here she was, in the strangest situation she thought impossible. Four humans and two ghosts, living simultaneously. And she had to admit, while it was one hell of a shock when she met Barbara and Adam for the first time, they were very sweet. Almost too sweet if she was being honest, but she would take nice over having ghosts that were trying to kill them every second of the day.

Larissa couldn't help but shudder as she thought over that possibility. Adam and Barbara were real enough, in a sense, so she had to assume that demon, Beetlejuice, was as well. She had to admit that she didn't quite understand what happened while she was still at college, but she did know that he was gone. She just didn't know if that would be a permanent thing or if she should be on guard to meet who she imagined was a maniac.

Enough time with her thoughts, Larissa threw her cup into the sink and walked out to the living room. The mass amount of free time to her was jarring, which lead to her actually working through her book collection that had been piling up due to her class work and what she referred to as a social life of some form. Here though, she had very little to do. School was out for summer break and all of her friends were back in New York.

Debating between reading a book and finding her sister, she decided to head up towards the attic. While Lydia was in the house, she was nowhere to be found which meant she was most likely up there with the Maitlands. Larissa paused at the top of the attic stairs and pushed the door open slowly, hoping she wasn't interrupting much. "Hey," she spoke up as she peered her head into the room. "Mind some extra company?" she asked as she realized her guess was correct. All three were up there.

"Nope!" Lydia said with a grin as she looked at her sister from her seat. "They were giving me some places to go take some more photographs. I want to go find some other places where I could get some cool shots."

Larissa nodded her head, happy to stick around even if she wouldn't be much help. She was lucky to know her way to the store from the house let alone any interesting places to visit. "Did you think of anything in particular?" he asked as she looked at the ghostly pair.

"Well," Barbara started as she looked at Adam with a look of hesitation in her eyes, "I thought Lydia would probably want to see the old abandoned factory."

"But," Adam continued, "she shouldn't really being going inside. Just because it's not being used doesn't mean it's safe. Who knows what kind of things were left there!"

Lydia rolled her eyes at their worry. "That's exactly why it would be great! A creepy old factory, left behind in time." Her eyes shifted towards Larissa then with a stubborn look. "You know there would be some great pictures there."

The look she was getting is a look Larissa knew well. Lydia wanted something from her and she had a pretty good idea what it was. "And you want me to take you. So we can both get in trouble then for trespassing. Sounds thrilling. I've always wanted a criminal record," she finished sarcastically.

"Really, Lydia," Barbara spoke up in reassuring voice, "I'm sure you could get something nice just from the outside. And we have other ideas! Right?" she pleaded towards Adam.

He looked at his wife startled before quickly nodding his head. "Of course! You could go take pictures at the… the church! And even go to the cemetery by it. Or the park."

Barbara cut in with a happy jump. "Oh, nothing like a lovely nature photo! Or even take some pictures around town."

The idea of Lydia going to either of those places was hilarious. Larissa couldn't stop the laugh that came out while Lydia scoffed at the idea.

"There is no way that is happening," both sisters spoke, though Larissa's amused tone was quite different to Lydia's exasperated words.

Larissa grinned before she slung an arm around Lydia's shoulder. "Sorry, Barbara, Adam, but you'll just need to accept defeat. There is no way she'll give up on that factory now. She's too stubborn."

At her words, Lydia's eyes lit up as she looked up at the brunette. "So you'll come with me?"

"It'll be just like old times," she paused, "sort of. At least at home I knew what I was walking us into when I took you places. This is… a little different."

"Yes!" Lydia laughed as she hugged her sister quickly. "Can we go now while Dad and Delia are still out?"

Larissa nodded and gestured towards the door. "Why not? Go get your stuff." She looked at the Maitlands as they began following the girls out of the attic. "Anything that I should know before we go and possibly cause trouble?"

Adam rubbed the back of his neck as they thought over her question. "Not that I can think of. Just be safe."

"And don't get into trouble." Barbara warned.

As she left the pair, Larissa couldn't help but smile softly to herself. It really was sweet how much they seemed to care about Lydia, and even herself even though they've only known her for a week.

With only her car keys to grab, Larissa didn't have much else to do but wait for Lydia as she grabbed her camera. Waiting by the door, she looked in the direction of Lydia's room with a downhearted look she would never dare show in front of her. The Maitlands have helped Lydia so much and Larissa couldn't help but feel like she had failed as a big sister. She knew Lydia was struggling after their mother had died and Dad didn't seem to be responding to it very well either, but instead of at least staying in touch and talking when she could, she shut the world out.

Larissa was dealing with it all in her own way, though terribly she had to admit, and she refused to share any sort of feelings with anyone. That's what lead to her having quite a break down in the middle of her semester. At the house though, everything seemed to have moved forward into a much healthier state. Pictures of Mom were out, Dad would even bring her up, and Lydia was taken care of by more people than she thought possible.

It was silly, but she almost felt jealous of Lydia despite everything that she had to go through to get to the point she was at. And she was jealous of the Maitlands for taking better care of Lydia than she did. She was just a mess.

Luckily, Lydia was bounding back down the hall, camera in hand and looking eager to get out of the house. With no more time to dwell on pessimistic thoughts, Larissa grinned as she spun her keys on her finger. "Ready to go?"

"You betcha."

"Now do you happen to know where this is exactly or will we be wandering the streets. I have an idea, but I couldn't say for sure."

Lydia nodded as she climbed into the car. "Yeah, I can show you where it is. It's just outside of town down past one of the farms."

And with destination in hand, the girls set out to find their destination.

The Deetz sisters stood outside of the old factory as they studied the outside of the building, figuring out if they would be able to get inside somehow without breaking anything, whether it was a lock, window, or one of their bones through a potential fall. The building itself looked like it hadn't been touched in decades. The previously used tin factory's sign was well worn and barely legible on the front of the building.

Lydia had already hiked around the whole front, catching plenty of angles on camera with little effort. Now came the hard part though.

"Stay here for a bit, I'm going to see if there's a better way in from the side," Larissa spoke as she already started to climb over the perimeter fence that shot out from the wall to the edge of the property. There was no way she was letting Lydia climb the damn rusted fence if there was another way in. With careful placements of her hands and feet, Larissa lowered herself down on the other side and sprinted off towards the back end before Lydia could protest.

Once she reached the back, slow, deliberate steps took her towards a first-floor roof that she may just be able to climb up to thanks to the a conveniently placed ladder, assuming it would still hold her. With a deep breath, Larissa began her assent, testing each ladder ring before she placed her full weight on to it. It was times like this when she was thrilled to be on the petite side at a meager 5'3 and barely bigger than Lydia.

Reaching the roof, Larissa grinned as she spotted a service door and hoped towards any power that may be that she would be able to open it and everything would go smoothly after that. With a fair amount of force, she eventually was able to tug the door open with a loud clang.

"What the hell was that?!" Lydia shouted, scaring Larissa as she spun around quickly, wide-eyed as she peered over the edge of the roof to see Lydia down on the ground still.

"What happened to staying there?" she hissed.

Lydia just shrugged and smirked up at her. "I never agreed to that." She started climbing up the ladder then. "I take it you found something."

Larissa huffed as she glared at the teenager. "Yes."

"Awesome! Let's go in!" Lydia exclaimed as she spotted the now open door and wasted no time climbing in.

Throwing her arms up, Larissa gave up on trying to do anything at that point. Lydia was going to do her own thing no matter what. Following behind Lydia, she eyed everything and was glad to see nothing that looked like it might kill them. So, a positive. "Make sure you don't touch anything," she warned half-heartedly. "I don't feel like taking you to the hospital and getting an arm cut off cause you get infected with who knows what."

Lydia rolled her eyes at the rather obvious statement. "Noted."

After that, Larissa let Lydia wander on her own, making sure she could still see her in the room but giving her enough space to do her thing. And she didn't mind taking her own time to look around the place. She felt like she had wanted into history, and a horror movie, so it was amazing as far as she was concerned. It wasn't often that she would do these kinds of things. She preferred to stay on the safe side. Lydia was always the risk taker. But Larissa also had no qualms against taking risks with the right push, or any push really. She was up for almost anything as long as it didn't sound like it would kill her. She loved the rush of excitement, if she only had the guts to do things without prompting.

With the factory behind them and even a quick stop at the store for snacks, the sisters managed to be back at the house before any other breathing humans. In which case, they would never have to say where they went until the photographs were seen. Overall, they would say the trip was very successful.

Larissa was still grabbing her bag of snacks from the car as Lydia had jumped out of the car in record time to go inside, leaving her with the bags. She had just locked the car when she heard both Adam and Barbara yelling Lydia's name in hysterics and she had to wonder what craziness could possibly be happening now. As long as the house wasn't on fire or something.

As she walked closer to the house, Larissa furrowed her brows as she picked up on multiple voices nearly speaking over each other. She sped up slightly when she noticed the annoyance in Lydia's voice.

Just as she reached the still open door, Larissa dropped her bag on the floor. "What the hell is-" she cut herself off as she stared at the scene in front of her. Adam and Barbara were shifting nervously as they looked between Lydia and the strange man in the middle of the room. With everyone's attention focused elsewhere, Larissa stayed silent as she took in the peculiar clothing of this green-haired guy who seemed to be bursting with energy. As far as she could tell, he may as well have been a zombie because he sure looked like hell.

The contrasting black and white striped suit was muted by the dirty undertone to all the colors, as if it had been sitting in the dirt for a year. And it looked worn. Not worn like her favorite band shirts. Worn like he hadn't changed out of that… ever.

It was him… Larissa could barely believe her eyes.

"I don't think so!" Lydia snapped at him, cutting off whatever was being said.

"But, babes! We can have so much fun again. We're BFFFFs, how could you possibly tell me no?" he cried as he threw his arm over her shoulder, pulling her towards him.

Lydia shrugged him off and spun back to face him directly with a stern look. "Because you nearly killed us all."

Just as Beetlejuice went to open his mouth, his eyes landed on the latest addition to the room and grinned wickedly. "Well now… Seems you have company, Lydia," he laughed as he spun her around to face the doorway and leaned on her shoulder, speaking into her ear. "Think she's gonna run? Mad woman yelling at air!" he cackled before he started to walk towards Larissa.

"Leave her alone!" Lydia raced forward as she put herself in front of him.

Meanwhile, Larissa wasn't sure what to do. A panic slightly set in as he turned to focus on her. She really didn't want to deal with this guy. She gulped before she tried to calm her nerves. "Actually," she said quietly, drawing everyone's attention. "I won't run."

Beetlejuice blinked at her dumbfounded. He was not expecting that. "You can see me?" he asked skeptically as he pointed to himself.

She nodded slightly and looked between Lydia and Beetlejuice, unsure what to do in this unknown territory.

"No way!" he shouted as he practically sprinted towards her, ignoring Lydia now as he got right in her face. "Best day ever! Nice to meet ya, doll. Now, not sure what brought you here but it must be fate. Now would you do a guy a favor?" he asked animatedly, taking no time at all to breath.

"Probably not." At the invasion of space, Larissa took a step back and stared at him in a mix of wonder and weary. "I'm Lydia's sister and I'm assuming you're Beetlejuice."

Beetlejuice's grin grew as he looked between the sisters, a devious look settling on his face. "Now that's not something I expected." His attention shifted to Lydia then as he continued. "I didn't even realize you had a sister. Were you trying to hide her away from me? Or hide her from yourself?" he finished cruelly.

"Why would I have needed to bring her up," she said defensively. "I was trying to get away the family, not bring more in. And she wasn't around anyway."

Larissa couldn't help but flinch slightly. Regardless of what was going on before, she knew Lydia may have been pissed at her when they first moved. She wouldn't have been surprised if she purposely didn't mention her. But it hardly mattered now, she tried to remind herself. Things were better.

"Listen," Larissa cut in, stepping between the two. "Whatever you're trying to do, forget it. You don't need to be dragging up the past. It hardly matters now."

"You're absolutely right," he suddenly agreed. "Who needs the past when the future is looking so much brighter! So, Lydia's sister, I know there's gotta be a name to go with that sexy body of yours." As he winked, Larissa stared as she failed to keep from blushing.

"Hold on!" Adam cut in, finally having watched enough of it. "Beetlejuice, I must insist that you stop." Despite an attempted firm voice, it didn't have much effect.

"Don't be jealous!" Beetlejuice laughed as he turned and slapped Adam's ass. "You're still the sexiest one here."

"Enough!" Cried Barbara as she grabbed Adam, pulling him away from him. "Lydia and Larissa are sweet girls. They don't need any of your… your… trickery in their life. Not again!"

With a wounded look, Beetlejuice stepped back and placed his hand dramatically over his heart. "I thought we were all pals. And this is the greeting I get? I've been gone for ages and I just wanted to spend some time with my best pals. And I even have the chance to make a new friend. You're all so cruel!" he yelled with false hurt. "I see how it is. Fine then. I'll go spend eternity alone. Abandoned. On my own. I hope you all are happy!" he shouted before he vanished.

With his sudden dramatic departure, a stifling silence fell over the room. Larissa was feeling overwhelmed as everything started to sink in and she was sure her heart was going to explode. "What just happened?" she said breathily.

"That was the general craziness that always happens when he is around." Lydia said with a flourish of her arm. "Congratulations, you've now met BJ. And I'm sure we'll see a lot more of him."

"Why?" Larissa asked lamely. She had a feeling that she knew the answer.

"He's dead again and wants his powers back. There's no way he's giving up that easily."

Larissa nodded slowly. "I'm… going to go process all this." And without another word, she grabbed her deserted bag and walked to her room, ignoring the looks being passed between Lydia, Barbara, and Adam. What just happened to having a normal day? She doubted that would ever happen again. Her life was beyond strange and what was she supposed to do?


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And let the fun begin!

Since the arrival of Beetlejuice, the following days turned into a blur of unexpected visits. On multiple occasions, the demon had dropped in on her in an attempt to get her to say his name. Of course, with a full house, there always seemed to be someone there to interrupt his plans. That didn't seem to slow him down however. She couldn't think of a single person she had ever met that was that relentless and it was exhausting. And he found it all super damn amusing, getting a laugh from her multiple reactions.

She nearly had a panic attack when he snuck up behind her during a movie one time. So obviously that became his favorite way to greet her. Whether she was focused on a movie, reading a book, or anything else that would hold her attention, he tried to be there in order to get a jump from her.

Of course, nothing compared to when he let himself into her bedroom while she was in the middle of changing. He had learned that she had quite a mouth on her when she was angry. Even when she tried to throw something at him, he'd just appear in another area of the room, laughing hysterically while making lewd comments.

Either way, he was driving her crazy and no one in the house was much help. The last thing she wanted to do was have a permanent attachment in the house. Everyone else seemed to have a different opinion than her though. The only time she had any alone time was when she left the house. She was used to being around people, but even at college she had plenty of alone time.

Here, everyone was just acting crazy. Even when she hid in her room, someone was always checking in. She felt like she was a child suddenly. Hell, even kids wouldn't have been this closely watched. And it was all his fault. If she ever had the chance, she might just have to hit him.

And that is why she found herself most often sitting in the living room. From the moment she was up to the second she went to bed. It was just easier that way. At least if everyone could see her, they had less reason to interrupt her. Otherwise, she was outside. At least if she was out there, no one cared what she did. But she had no intention of burning in the summer sun by spending her entire life outside.

Currently sitting outside, Larissa was lounging in a lawn chair as she scrolled through her phone. That had been her current location for the last hour before she was drawn away from her screen by a shadow cast over her. Looking up, she silently questioned her sister's appearance. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" It wasn't often that Lydia chose to spend her free time outside.

"Just bored. Delia is driving me crazy in the house." Lydia huffed as she sat down in the grass.

"She still trying to plan the wedding through the use of her crystals?" Larissa asked flatly. She had to wonder sometimes about that woman. Sure, Dad liked her, but she was… something else.

"It's gotten worse since you came out here," Lydia warned. "She's got every inch of the place covered in stuff. I thought adults were supposed to have small weddings with none of the fuss."

Larissa laughed at the idea. "Sure, some might, but nothing Delia does is without fuss. I am worried to think about what this wedding is going to turn into."

"And what she's going to expect us to wear," Lydia added with a grimace. Even if it was terrible, both sisters knew they'd begrudgingly agree to whatever she decided because Dad would.

"Either way, we'll be passed all that soon enough and then we get to go back to her normal crazy," she finished with an attempted optimistic tone.

"And the rest of the crazy?" Lydia asked as she looked up at the older girl.

"Huh?" Larissa looked confused. "What do you mean?" She could think of a lot of other crazy things right now, but she didn't understand what Lydia was asking.

Lydia looked away for a moment before she finally jumped to her point. "Are you going back to college?"

"I didn't exactly leave college. I'm still enrolled. I was going to do online classes. I moved for a reason," she explained as she looked over her chair at Lydia.

"I know that, but you also don't seem thrilled to be here."

"No, it's just different," Larissa lamented as Lydia listened intently. "The last time I was really living at home it was still you, me, mom, and dad. There's just more company than I was really expecting. All those things that you told me, I thought they were stories. Ghosts weren't real. I mean, I always said they were, but not actually being able to see them, be haunted by them, real. I have to be honest though, as crazy as it has been, it hasn't been bad. And while this week has been annoying, even that's not going to run me off."

Lydia smiled as she finished. "Good. I'm glad you're here."

"Me too," Larissa smiled wide as she stood up from her chair. "Now let's head back in before you actually get a tan and I am starting to bake."

~*~*~

The day was long past over and the house was silent as Larissa sat on her bed, book open in front of her and music playing through her headphones. Despite the late hour, she was unable to sleep. Her mind was still racing and even her body was ready to move. It seemed she wasn't the only being that was still up in the house.

Oblivious to the rest of her room, Larissa didn't notice her company as he phased through the wall and chuckled to himself as he realized she was still awake but paying no attention. "It's my lucky night," he grinned as he rubbed his hands in anticipation. Taking a different approach, he decided to step into her line of sight. The last thing he wanted was to make her scream and cut their alone time short. With hands in his pockets, he walked over and grinned wider when he saw her do a double take.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed as she threw her headphones off. She glanced at the time on her phone before snapping back at him. "Are you kidding? It's almost 2am."

He shrugged as he sat on her bed, not losing his pep. "What? I stop in all the time at this hour. Of course, you're normally asleep so this is quite a gift for me!" he said giddily.

"No. Stop." she breathed as she scooted away from him. "That is so not okay."

"Never objected before, doll."

"I was asleep!" she cried. "How could I? Just forget it and get out." She stood up then and gestured towards the door, hoping he would take the hint.

"Nah," he said and then proceeded to lounge on her bed, propped up on his side to face her. "Why do that when I have some great company right here."

Giving up, Larissa threw up her hands. "Fine. You stay, I'll leave." Just as she opened the door, it slammed back shut causing her to yelp before slamming a hand over her mouth. She spun then with a glare. "Stop it! You have been driving me crazy for days. Don't you have something better to do?"

Beetlejuice raised a hand to his chin in fake thought before he shrugged dramatically. "Nope, not a thing… yet!" he emphasized before he appeared beside her and pulled Larissa to his side. "You know, all of this will stop if you say my name. Three times and you're free, I'm free. Everyone's free and we can start the party."

Larissa stepped out from beneath his arm, circling slightly to get more space. "That is not a good reason." With each word, her voice got higher as she worked herself up. "You already try to scare me a thousand times a day. I don't need it to be worse. And when you're not here harassing me, everyone else is hovering over me. Everything is your fault!"

"Woah, woah, woah. Calm down," he said with his hands up in surrender with a laugh. "Don't be mad at me, be mad at them. Think about it. When have I ever really done anything to you? But your friends and family? Sounds to me like they don't trust you."

"You're delusional," she said with a shake of her head. "It's you they don't trust."

"Actually," he started with a finger raised to make his point, "I'm the one that's right. Hear me out. I'm going to be here either way but I need a person, namely you, to bring me back to full power. But you on the other hand hold all the cards but sounds like they don't think you'll make the right play."

Larissa watched him skeptically. If he was trying to make a point, he was doing a very bad job at it. His argument was working better against him. Though there was that little point in her mind that was curious what he could actually do… "I'm not helping you."

"You're not just helping me though! We can help each other. Whatever they told you about me, forget it! I'm a changed man, swear to God/Satan. Give me a chance and let me prove it. We could make such a pair." He whipped out a card suddenly from his pocket and held it out. "Just say and we're gold!"

She hesitantly plucked the card from his hand, looking at it confused. "Betelguese? That is not how I expected your name to be spelled."

"Don't focus on the spelling. Just read the card," he said wildly pointing towards it. "Think of all the fun and games we can have. Tricks! Revenge! And no killing, pinky promise," he finished like a child, holding out his pinky with his most innocent smile.

Larissa groaned as he kept pushing. It was too late to be dealing with this. "You have one minute to convince me, otherwise I will just wake up the whole house cause I am over this."

At her admission, he grinned and bounced with excitement. "Challenge accepted! Alright, as I said," he started far beyond a pace that allowed for breath, "we can help each other. We can BOTH prove that we can be trusted. Why shouldn't your family allow you to make your own choices? Even if you wanted to, they wouldn't let you get that third name out. Even Lydia. And you're an adult, at least I think you're legal," he rattled off his side thought before jumping back in. "Either way, they already don't trust you. How could it get worse? Prove that you can make the right choice by saying my name and allow ME to prove that I can make the right choice too. I'm a changed guy! That minute back then of being alive really opened my eyes! And as promised, I won't kill a soul." He held up his hand earnestly as he finished his persuading argument with the most pleading look he could muster.

Silence followed as Larissa processed his words. She honestly had to admit he had somewhat of a point. And when he wasn't scaring the shit out of her, he wasn't too bad. Out of all the brief conversations they had, if she could call them that, he was very flirty and looking for laughs, but he wasn't rattling off ways to kill people. Or perhaps it was really too late at night for her to think rationally.

"I'm out of my mind," she muttered under her breath. It seemed Beetlejuice still picked up on her words though as his face brightened, but he didn't say a word. She closed her eyes and breathed out before she stared at him. "Do NOT make me regret this or you will too."

That was all he needed to jump up suddenly in joy. "Yes! You won't be sorry!"

"Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice."

He bounced on his feet as he stared down at her.

She took a breath. And barely above a whisper, "Beetlejuice."

"It's show time!" He shouted before he grabbed her suddenly in a kiss and grinned.

Shocked by the cold and uninvited contact, Larissa just stared dazed and confused at the demon. "What the hell?"

"Don't worry. We'll have time to make out later," he winked before he grabbed a hold of her hand and pulled her towards the door. "Let's go, Rissa. The night's still young."

As he dragged her through the house, she dreaded to find out just what she had unleashed.

Lost in thought, she didn't notice when he stopped in the living room until she stumbled straight into him.

"It's show time! And you have no idea just what we can do now. How 'bout a little surprise for the folks when they wake up?"

The glint in his eyes made her weary but she reluctantly agreed. Could she really say no? Would it matter? "Just don't go overboard, Mr. 'Changed Man'," she said with air quotes. "There will be no surprise if we're too loud and wake them up early."

"Don't worry, I'll be careful and I always keep my promises. Now let's make this place more lively! You can have a seat and watch," he finished with a push, letting her fall back into a newly acquired seat.

Before her eyes, the house seemed to transform into quite the horror-themed fun house. Dark patterns and asymmetrical designs replaced all the old furnishings. Even the few lights he had magically turned on seemed to take on an almost purple glow. Larissa stared in awe at the transformation taking place in front of her. "This is amazing, Beej" she whispered, unsure how else to express her thoughts.

Beetlejuice laughed as he looked over at her, surprised at the nickname. even though it was a common occurrence in the house thanks to Lydia. "I'm just getting started and so are you." He pulled her up from the chair then and into his side. "Help a guy out. Everything's far more fun with a partner in crime. What are you dying to see?"

"What?" she asked dumbly.

"Come on, you know you want in on this," he emphasized with a squeeze of her shoulders. "Now's your time to turn the tables. You said they've been driving you crazy, now you can drive them crazy."

Larissa looked at him closely as she stood there, thinking over his offer and what he had done so far. Despite everything that he could have done since she said his name, his actions have only been harmless, set up for simple screams and crazy reactions. Beetlejuice was actually surprising her and she couldn't help but smile at him. "Alright, why not have a laugh? But we're not hurting them," she added just in case.

Unsure what he could really do and lacking any ideas, she turned to her memories, thinking about all the haunted houses she had gone through with friends during Halloween. Surely there was something that would come to mind. "So, we can… change the rest of the house too? Have things that pop out of hiding places, make optical illusions." She paused in thought as she looked back at him in question. "Can you actually change things to work like optical illusions, but real? Like changing the dimensions?"

Beetlejuice chuckled at her. "Oh yeah, just say what you're think and I'll make it happen."

And from there, the pair worked on transforming the house. Larissa loved everything that was happening, having a blast every time Beetlejuice changed something, whether it was scary or strange. Before she knew it though, she fell back on the plush couch in exhaustion as she watched the last touches being made. She was amazed that the sun wasn't creeping in through the windows yet. The longer she sat there, the harder it was to keep her eyes open. But she was determined to see the end of this. It seemed her body had other plans though. By the time Beetlejuice was no longer burst with excitement over his returned powers, Larissa was fast asleep on the couch. And morning would prove to be an eye-opening day for everyone in the house.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the aftermath. This will be quite the rollercoaster.

As the light shined through the window onto Larissa's face, she groaned and squeezed her eyes shut tighter. She felt dead tired with the beginning of a headache due to lack of sleep. In an attempt to hide and sleep longer, she turned over only to lose her delicately held position on the couch, falling smack into something beside her. "What the hell?" she mumbled as she scrunched up her nose, confused by the musky outdoor scent that was suddenly very overwhelming.

"Morning, babes," Beetlejuice laughed quietly. "I was starting to think you were gonna sleep through the good stuff."

Groggy and tired, Larissa stared at him in confusion. Nothing was making sense. For starters, why was Beetlejuice an inch from her face? What was going on? Pushing away from him, she shivered slightly as her warm body adjusted to the lingering cold feeling on her skin. Summer or not, shorts and a tank top weren't warm enough if he was going to steal her body heat.

Finally, with enough presence of mind, she looked around the room. "Shit," she muttered, remembering what had happened only a few hours ago. "That wasn't a dream, was it?"

The snort she received in reply told her as much. "Changing your mind already? I'm hurt, I thought we had something special after that night of pleasure."

"Don't go saying stuff like that," she hissed with a blush. "No such thing will be happening. Ever."

"It could. Invitation's always there," he winked before laughing at her flustered movement as she practically jumped off the couch. "No need to deny your feelings."

Shaking her head and ignoring his words, she scanned the room as she placed her hand on her head and groaned. "What did I do?" Her face paled as she suddenly heard movement and the floorboards creaking. "Oh, geez."

"Don't be shy! Be proud and own it. We made something great here and it's all about to pay off," he cackled excitedly, eager to see the reactions. "This is going to be good."

"No. It's really not… Yeah, I changed my mind. Change it back," she half-heartedly whined, knowing it wouldn't help. This is what she got for making decisions with no sleep. She was never one to put too much thought into her choices but whatever rationale she used, it had clearly been illogical.

Beetlejuice ignored her words as he stood up and pulled her along off to the side of the room. From there, they would have a perfect view of anyone that came in.

As Larissa picked up the voices of her dad and Delia, she truly wished she could disappear as she shrank back as much as possible, caring very little that she had a demon behind her back. She could even feel the rumble of his silent laughter in his chest from being so close.

And that was when Delia walked in, the first victim. She froze in confusion before it shifted to terror, remembering exactly what the room reminded her of. With a jump, Delia spun around quickly and collided with Charles, shrieking. "No! No, no, no! What is going on?"

In comparison to her hysterics, Charles moved her out of the way and took tentative yet determined steps into the room. With narrowed eyes, he was already trying to prepare for anything that might jump out. "This is not happening again," he growled as he stomped into the room, eyes searching.

"Oh, it's definitely happening again," he whispered before he seemed to cause one of the pictures to come to life, shaking growling and hissing at the man. While Charles merely jumped, Delia let out a scream and backed up against the wall, only to have arms suddenly sprout out from around her, grasping her.

"Beetlejuice!" Charles hollered, loud enough to carry across the house.

Before she knew what was happening, Larissa found herself being teleported across the room. Heart racing from the unexpected change and the suddenly growing headache, she felt severely off-balance and gripped Beetlejuice's arm in panic, she stared at her father's stormy eyes. The confusion was clear when he saw his eldest in front of him.

"Hi, Dad," she said meekly. Before anyone had a chance to figure out the words to say, all eyes turned towards the sound of running footsteps as Lydia raced into the room. And before she knew it, Adam and Barbara appeared as well.

Larissa's anxiety grew with each face she looked at, matched by the sounds of shock or fright that filled the room simply from the appearance of it. And she knew what was still lurking, waiting to jump out. No one seemed to know who to look at as each pair of eyes flickered between the duo standing in the middle of their masterpiece, shoulder to shoulder.

"We did some remodeling! Don't you love it?" Beetlejuice shouted through the tension as he spun the pair around, flicking his free hand towards a nearby cabinet, causing it to fly open with a collection of insects large enough to make anyone's skin crawl.

All at once, everyone turned on him, exclamations filled with shock, surprise and anger clear in their voices.

"No!"

"How did this happen?"

"Absolutely not!"

Unperturbed by them, he waved them off. "Relax, no one died in the making of this house, aside from those two. And it's got a homey vibe now, don't ya think?" he joked.

"What did you do?" Lydia snapped, focused solely on her older sister. After everything that she had told her, yet here they were. Past the wonder and awe at seeing everything transformed again, there was a look of disappointment and Larissa was sure it was directed at her.

That look was all it took for Larissa to snap, built up from all her fluctuating emotions. They were the ones driving her crazy yet she was the bad guy? She and Beetlejuice hadn't even done anything! Harmless pranks and they acted like she committed murder. God forbid she have her own life and act on her own thoughts.

"You know exactly what I did," she snapped back, stepping forward. "And I don't care. You're the only child in this house, yet you try to act like you know better. I don't know when that happened in the past two years since I started college, but it's annoying. And the rest of you," she turned with a glare, oblivious to the triumphant grin on Beetlejuice's face as he watched her tear into her family. "Don't think I didn't notice being constantly monitored. I'm not an idiot. Were you so afraid that I would bring him back? Do you have that little trust in me?"

So mad suddenly, she gripped her hands tightly, almost drawing blood. "Well guess what? I'm going to do whatever the hell I please. He gave me no reason not to. Obnoxious as he may be, he's at least been up front about who he is. And in case you didn't notice, no one's dead. No one's bleeding. No one is hurt," she emphasized. One last time, she went to say more before snapping her mouth shut, seething. "Forget this." She needed out. The world was muffled by her blood boiling as she pushed passed her family and stumbled into her room with a slam of the door.

Finally in the silence of her room, she allowed her emotions to catch up to her. Every breath she took felt more difficult as her frustration grew. Trying to calm down, she slid to the floor, propped up against the bed. Knowing what was to come, she stayed there a moment, fighting off her emotions as she pressed her palms to her eyes.

As she heard someone attempt to open her locked door, she snapped her head up and glared. "Go away," she snarled, hoping everyone would take the hint. She was not in the mood to smooth anything out or handle any aftermath. She just didn't care.

It seemed that one person in particular didn't believe that applied to everyone as Beetlejuice let himself into her room and dropped down to sit in front of her. The grin on his face seemed to fuel her fire as she turned her anger on him. "That 'go away' applies to you to! This is all your damn fault too! You have no idea what you've done! You got your freedom. Couldn't you have just gone and bothered some other family? Mine is screwed up enough as it is. That's why I'm here!"

Larissa took a breath as she felt the tell-tale signs as her eyes began to sting. "Get out!" she yelled as she lunged at him, trying to push him back though it did very little. "Go bother someone else!" she cried, ignoring the red starting to appear in his hair as she refused to look up at him.

"I don't think so," he snapped as he pushed her back into base of the bed. "Like it or not, your little screwed up family is the most entertainment I've had in centuries and I'm not giving that up. That's why I came back here in the first place, so deal with it, doll."

"But I can't fix this! It was already cracked and you just shattered the whole damn thing! This is my life and-" she cut herself suddenly as her voice cracked and she pressed her eyes shut against the stupid tears showing up.

"Sorry but you're stuck with me cause I'm now a part of your life." Beetlejuice said sharply as he gave her a hard look, annoyed that she refused to look at him.

Larissa huffed in frustration. "I don't care about that. You're, you're not the actual problem. You're just adding to the problems!" she pushed herself up then to give herself space, feeling herself shaking.

Beetlejuice wasn't anywhere close to done with the conversation and grabbed her arm, dragging her down as she toppled over, into him. "What?" she snapped overwhelmed, finally looking at him through her blurred vision as she tore her arm from his grip. "What do you want from me?"

"The same thing as before," he yelled. "I'm not going back to being invisible! Between you and Lydia, and now the rest of the world, I'm not letting you guys fuck this up this time. I'm staying here and you can figure your own shit out cause all your issues are on you, doll."

Larissa stared at him quietly, failing to calm herself down. "Fine," she muttered as she deflated and her tears fell more, trying to scoot back with her eyes pressed shut. "I wasn't planning on sending you away for good, by the way. I just meant from my room…" She tried to reassure him, thinking slightly over his words. There was more to his words than she was catching, but she couldn't deal with that right now.

With eyes still closed, she didn't see any of his reactions, instead speaking from her own thoughts. She could only hope he didn't decide to just kill her or something. "You know, Beetlejuice, I wouldn't have said your name if I wasn't truly okay with you being here last night."

Silence followed for a minute as the only sound was Larissa's quiet crying. "Stop it," Beetlejuice said muffled by his hand suddenly, startling her as she peered at him, confused though he was looked at her bed with a glare. "Stop with the tears. Those aren't any fun if they're not from someone screaming in terror." He jumped up then as they finally looked at each other. "I'm out of here. I expect you to be ready for more fun next time. Maybe we can even get Lydia in on it."

As he ran a hand through his hair, Larissa finally noticed the muddled color of it, barely discernible between red and green due to the dark hue. She nodded her head slowly as she noted the tension in his whole body. "Okay… Guess I need to work on getting us both off her hit list," she said with a small laugh, imagining that she might actually hit them. "We'll see…" she finished as she rubbed her eyes, finally calming down. Though it seemed that was the extent that Beetlejuice was willing to deal with.

In an instant, she was once again alone in her room, confused but strangely calm. She knew what she would need to do next. That didn't mean she was looking forward to it though. If it didn't go well, she might be the next ghost in the house.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay. Work cut into my writing time a bit and this chapter just did not want to be written. But I had time to come up with more direction for the plot which should make moving forward easier when working on this.

Larissa was dreading this conversation but there was no point in putting it off. Everyone was hiding in different areas of the house, avoiding the main living areas as they were still easily triggered. That meant her family was in their bedrooms, possibly the attic, or outside which made find them very easy.

Ringing her hands nervously, she stood outside the attic door. Despite taking a few hours to calm down and figure out a plan, there was no plan. From the other side of the door, she could hear Lydia, Barbara and Adam talking. However, the second she knocked, a silence fell on the other side.

Lydia opened the door as the sisters stared at each other awkwardly. “Hey,” Larissa said lamely as she glanced at the Maitlands behind Lydia. “I figured we had some stuff to talk about.”

“That’s for sure,” she said stiffly before letting her into the room. And as if on cue, Adam and Barbara took one look between them before leaving the sisters alone. “I’m honestly surprised you brought him back… So why did you?”

Larissa shrugged and looked away. “I don’t know. I didn’t really see a reason not to.”

Lydia looked at her incredulously. “How about everything that I told you already?”

“That was months ago and it might be real to you, but they’re just stories to me. I only have the last few days to judge from and he never game me a reason not to. I trust my judgement.”

Lydia huffed in annoyance and continued her argument. “I get that, but I don’t trust him. He’s playing you. Whatever he said isn’t true. He’s manipulative and after something.”

“So what?” she dismissed easily, an edge to her voice. “Who isn’t? He wants his freedom and I get that. I just wanted some peace. Obviously, I misjudged how this would all work out for me, but it’s not the end of the world. I’m not going to worry about it. And might I remind you that you did the same thing for worse reasons.”

Dark eyes reflected the cut Larissa had just given but Lydia refrained from going on the defensive. She couldn’t dismiss the point her sister was trying to make. “And might I remind you he was going to kill all of us.”

“But he didn’t.” Larissa wouldn’t bother arguing that. Even she couldn’t touch that argument with any support. “I know he definitely was the bad guy before but… I don’t feel like he is now. From the first second I saw him, I never had that feeling and you know there’s plenty of people I hate automatically.” After all, she was quite the judgmental person, but he hadn’t really failed her as far as she could remember. At least not in any extreme cases.

“I hope you’re right then because getting rid of him will be a lot harder this time. I doubt the same plan will work again.”

Larissa had to agree with that. “Probably not… Just… give him another chance and trust me. If I’m wrong, you can say ‘I told you so,’ assuming we’re not dead if I’m wrong.”

“I should have trusted you from the start,” Lydia admitted, “or at least been honest with you. I take it you realized we were keeping an eye on you and him,” she finished timidly.

“That I did, which was really annoying.”

“Sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” Larissa let out a breath, “but moving forward, it wouldn’t hurt to just be around as my little sister and not a watch dog. And then hopefully we can keep the peace between everyone. I’m sure Beetlejuice wouldn’t mind your company too,” she added, remembering her earlier conversation with him.

Lydia nodded slowly. “I know. He actually popped up shortly after everything. Not sure what he was so mad about but he made it pretty clear that he was sticking around and keeping us ‘for entertainment’ as he put it.”

Larissa rolled her eyes at that. “Great, what am I, a replacement for television?”

“Who knows,” she said thoughtfully, “but I did miss all his tricks. And maybe we could trick him,” she added with a sly smile.

Larissa laughed at the devious look in Lydia’s eyes. “We’ll see. We can save that for when the house is calm again.” 

Letting the conversation drop, Larissa parted ways with Lydia, knowing she was most likely going to speak with their resident ghost couple once she was gone. And she had to figure out what to do about her dad. Through all her internal debates, she settled on letting that one come up naturally. She really didn’t feel like getting yelled at or whatever else her dad might respond with. Either way, it wouldn’t be good.

With a plan, or no plan, in mind, she moved towards the living room to take some time to herself. Aside from Lydia possibly, she doubted anyone would risk coming out until it was time for lunch which gave her at least an hour before someone would traverse the house. 

The sun was shining through the window, illuminating the little nook that Larissa had claimed as her reading corner for the time being. With the living room still decked out like a haunted house, the dim purple glow didn’t lead to easy reading. But this was the easiest way for her to stand her ground as she waited for the inevitable showdown with her father.

It wasn’t as if she regretted what she had done. She had no intention of backing down from her decision and apologizing. She couldn’t change anything either. Beetlejuice was nowhere to be found and she was under the impression that asking him to change it back probably wouldn’t result in anything productive. So obviously smoothing things out that way wouldn’t happen.

In the past hour, very little had been heard in the house aside from a few creaking boards and the occasional raised voice of her father. Otherwise, the house was dead. However, just as she expected, it wasn’t going to stay that way for long. It was already lunch time and she didn’t expect her entire family to skip lunch in order to avoid the redecorated room.

The sound of footsteps down the hall drew her attention up from her book, her brown eyes falling onto the tense form of her father. While she couldn’t hear what he was saying, he was certainly grumbling to himself with Delia nowhere in sight.

Bracing for whatever was to come, Larissa bit her lip and closed her book as she stood up to be more easily seen. “Hi, Dad,” she said simply, waiting to judge his mood.

Charles paused his steps suddenly, glancing towards her in surprise as he just noticed her.

A silence fell over the pair as he gazed at her in contemplation, a hand sliding over his mouth before he finally spoke with a shake of his head. “What were you thinking?” he said with disappointment clear in his voice as he gestured around the room.

Larissa glanced around, sure that he wouldn’t really want to hear that she hardly thought about it at all. Middle of the night decisions tended to be gut instinct, not logic. “I know it wasn’t the best decision, and I know based on what happened before that it seems really stupid, but… I don’t. What is the worst thing that he’s done since he showed back up?”

Charles looked at his daughter in disbelief as he raised his arms. “This. But this is just the beginning of it. Worse will come.”

“It might not!” she snapped in frustration. “The guy that you all told me about, I haven’t met him. He’s not exactly been going around trying to convince me to kill someone and these tricks have been harmless. I think he honestly changed somehow after everything that happened.”

He sighed as he walked closer to her and crossed his arms. “Look, Larissa, I’d love to believe that but you don’t know what he’s capable of. He’s evil and I’m not going to let him tear this family apart again.”

Larissa’s felt put out as her dad rejected everything she said. “Fine, you’re going to believe what you want no matter what I say. Beetlejuice might just prove you wrong though.” She gave in as she snatched her book up, not wanting to fight with her dad. “I’m gonna go read in my room,” she mumbled as she walked off. “After all, what do I know?” she spoke to herself.

“How about you see if you can get this room back to normal if you have so much faith in him,” he finished before she was out of sight, getting no reply in response.

~*~

Larissa threw her book onto her bed as she shut her door with a kick. She supposed she could consider one out of two conversations ending on a positive tone as a success, but she couldn’t believe how quickly her family was to dismiss everything she had to say. Then again, she might as well have been trying to convince them to let someone out of prison just because they were friendly to her. Maybe she really was out of her mind. Clearly though, she wouldn’t be able to change anyone’s opinions. Beetlejuice would be on his own in that aspect. Perhaps she could help and actually follow her dad’s request. It couldn’t make it worse, right? Unless she pissed off their newest poltergeist and caused him to up his antics by tenfold. No big deal.

With that thought in mind, she decided to just jump and see what happened. Now if only she knew what she needed to do to get Beetlejuice back in the room. Could she even summon him back now by saying his name? For all she knew, he was free and she might be wasting her breath trying to get him to appear on her own schedule.

“Beetlejuice?” she called out weakly, feeling somewhat silly like she was talking to herself. As the seconds slowly passed by, that feeling sunk in even deeper, sure that the heat in her cheeks displayed her embarrassment despite no one around to see. Just as she was about to try again, she was startled by a sound behind her.

As she spun around, she spotted Beetlejuice sitting on the top of her dresser, staring at her in amusement. “How long have you been sitting there?”

“Since you called. I was starting to think you were ignoring me.”

“You could have said something,” she mumbled, crossing her arms defensively.

Ignoring her question, Beetlejuice jumped right into a new conversation. “So, what’s up? Ready for more mischief?” his devious grin reflected by the vibrance of his hair. “Make it really feel like home. Have some screams and groans around every corner. I’m already bursting with ideas and ready to go!” he rattled off in excitement, ignoring Larissa’s uncomfortable shifting.

“Actually,” she trailed off, sure she needed to think of some other way to sell him on the idea of fixing the house. He was clearly going to reject it. “Why don’t we just turn the house back to normal? They certainly wouldn’t be expecting that,” she finished unsure with a questioning tone.

“I’ll pass,” he said leveling her an unimpressed look. “Doesn’t sound like much fun and that would be the exact opposite of what I want. Unless,” he paused long enough to jump down and drag Larissa to his side with an arm looped around her, “I get something out of this.”

“Well, you don’t get me,” she admitted as she slinked out from his grip, quickly coming up with a possible selling point. Sure, her dad might have wanted this to go away long term but really, what was the chance of that happening? “You will get the element of surprise though. My whole family is already on edge. But imagine the reaction after a false sense of security. I know waiting isn’t ideal, but think about it,” she finished with what she hoped was an honest smile, grabbing his hand as she stared up at him.

Beetlejuice didn’t give an immediate response as he narrowed his eyes, watching her closely. After a moment, he raised his free hand and pointed at her face, causing the girl to widen her eyes, fearing she may have just failed miserably. “Only if we’re going all out next time. No trying to back out again like this morning or you’re gonna be the next one I’m scaring.”

“Deal!” she exclaimed and give his already held hand a quick shake. “I bet Lydia will even help next time. Just turn the house back. We can just pretend like nothing happened and start planning for the future.” With her pause, she caught Beetlejuice’s eye roll but just as he went to speak, she cut him off. “Same rules though!” she continued firmly. “No harm. No death.”

A groan followed her words as he threw his head back. “Come on, babe. We gotta have a little fun. No killing. Fine. But people can live with a missing limb.”

“No!” she shouted wide-eyed in alarm. “This is my family, even Delia. No harm. I mean it.”

“Fine,” he gave in with another eye roll. “I won’t tear your family apart. There’s still other ways to have fun,” he admitted with a devious look, clearly thinking about his future endeavors.

Larissa had to admit she was a bit worried, but everyone should be fine, right? “We’ll come up with some ideas with Lydia. But you still need to give it time. Do you think you can manage sitting and waiting like a normal person?”

“I’m sure I’ll find something to do,” he grinned before suddenly disappearing without another word.

And true to his word, when Larissa checked the rest of the house, everything seemed back to normal. Standing there in the dully painted living room filled with normal furniture, she couldn’t help but feel like things were going to get worse. At least when the place was filled with tricks, she knew what to expect.

Now though, there was sure to be more to come. It was just a matter of whether she should be more concerned about what Beetlejuice had planned or what her dad was going to do after round two. There was potentially a war starting in the house and she was expected to be on both sides.


End file.
